Born into a farming family in Tama district, Musashi (Chōfu, Tokyo).
He joined a Tennen Rishin-ryū fencing school and, his skill recognized, was adopted by its master Kondō Shūsuke.
He took over the Shieikan training hall, where Hijikata Toshizō, Okita Sōji and others gathered.
Joining a rōnin corps to guard the shogun, he went to Kyoto, stayed on to form the Shinsengumi and became its commander, policing the city.
He raided pro-emperor activists gathered at the Ikedaya inn in Kyoto, making the Shinsengumi famous.
He and his men were made shogunate retainers. At year's end he was shot and badly wounded in the shoulder.
Defeated in the Boshin War and again in Kōshū, he surrendered to government forces at Nagareyama in Shimōsa and lost his life by execution at Itabashi.
Okita SōjiHijikata ToshizōKiyokawa Hachirō
Matsudaira Shungaku (Yoshinaga)Takechi Hanpeita (Zuizan)Yoshida ShōinKiyokawa HachirōHashimoto SanaiHijikata ToshizōKomatsu Tatewaki (Kiyokado)Sakamoto Ryōma
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.